By JOEL BRINKLEY; Eric Lichtblau contributed reporting for this article.

Published: October 1, 2004

The Bush administration on Thursday postponed deporting Yaser E. Hamdi, the Saudi-American captured in Afghanistan in 2001, because of Saudi government objections to requirements that it monitor him for five years, even though he has not been charged with a crime.

Saudi officials, clearly irritated, said they found the monitoring provision of Mr. Hamdi's release agreement unreasonable. They also noted that the supervision duties, which entail ensuring that Mr. Hamdi does not leave the country for five years, were imposed upon Saudi Arabia even though no Saudi officials were involved in the negotiations.

''I don't know why we should have to baby-sit him,'' said a senior Saudi official, who asked to remain unnamed because of the diplomatic implications of the issue.

A State Department official called the disagreement minor and said the administration believed it could be resolved in the next few days. The government had promised to release Mr. Hamdi no later than Thursday.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, speaking to reporters on Thursday morning, said, ''We're working, and I think we'll eventually work our way through it.''

Later, Richard A. Boucher, the State Department spokesman, said, ''There was not a deal that has come undone.'' But he noted that the release had been negotiated between the United States government and Mr. Hamdi's lawyers and ''does not involve the Saudi authorities.''

He added, ''We are discussing the transfer of Mr. Hamdi to Saudi Arabia, but we're not renegotiating the agreement the Justice Department has with his lawyers.''

A senior State Department official said the United States was not asking Saudi Arabia to enforce the deal.

American forces captured Mr. Hamdi during the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. He was classified as an ''enemy combatant'' and taken to Guant?mo Bay, Cuba.

Mr. Hamdi was born in Louisiana, and when it was determined that he was an American citizen he was moved to a naval brig in Norfolk, Va. But his classification did not change, and as an enemy combatant he was not allowed to see a lawyer. No charges were ever filed against him.

But in a declaration published in July 2002, Michael Mobbs, a senior Defense Department official, asserted that Mr. Hamdi ''affiliated with a Taliban military unit and received weapons training'' and remained with the unit even after the United States attacked Afghanistan.

Last June, the Supreme Court, in a rebuke of Bush administration policy, ruled that Mr. Hamdi could not be held incommunicado and that he could challenge his detention before a judge. Soon afterward, rather than give him a day in court, the government began negotiating his release.

Mr. Hamdi's lawyer, Frank W. Dunham Jr., said that while the military had not given him an official update, he expected that Mr. Hamdi would not leave before Sunday.

Mr. Hamdi, who has been kept in solitary confinement for nearly three years, was allowed to call his father for the first time this week, and he called Mr. Dunham for the first time on Thursday, the lawyer said.

''His mood was very upbeat, and he knows the Saudi position is not hostile to him,'' Mr. Dunham said. ''He knows it's delaying him, but he also knows they're concerned about his situation and that they want what's best.''

Under the agreement, Mr. Hamdi will be deported to Saudi Arabia, where his father lives, and will renounce his American citizenship. He will not be allowed to leave Saudi Arabia for five years and must advise the United States embassy 30 days before any foreign travel.

He agreed never to go to Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, Syria, the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.

The Saudi government objects to having to enforce these and other provisions, even though no charges have been filed against Mr. Hamdi.

''Mr. Hamdi has been in U.S. custody for three years, and if they had charges against him, then they would have charged him in the U.S.,'' said Nail al-Jubeir, spokesman for the Saudi embassy. ''We have not seen any evidence that he violated the law.''

Photo: Yaser E. Hamdi, an American citizen, is to be sent to Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Associated Press)